8o 



THE APIARY. 



COTTAGER'S HIVE, FOR TAKING HONEY IN 



STRAW CAPS, WITHOUT THE DESTRUCTION 



OF THE BEES. 



A very prevalent opinion 

 exists, that bees do better in 

 straw than in hives made 

 of any other material. An- 

 other opinion prevails, viz., 

 that the old-fashioned 

 straw hive is the least 

 expensive, the most simple, 

 and the most productive, 

 Although we cannot go 

 so far as this, we are 

 willing to admit that a 

 simplified adaptation of the 

 humane system to the old common straw hive is the 

 most suitable to put into the hands of that large class of 

 bee-keepers — cottagers. By these the more fanciful hives 

 will be instantly condemned ; besides, the expense puts 

 them quite beyond the reach of the poorer class. The 

 object aimed at in planning our Cottager's Hive has 

 been to furnish a depriving hive that should be at once 

 easy of management, inexpensive, and convenient. The 

 stock-hive, into which the bees are first hived, is a 

 round straw hive, having a flat top, with a hole in the 



